Trinity Musicians

Jim’s association with church music began in childhood “soprano days” in a Lutheran parsonage. In a family that includes six clergy and a deaconess, he grew up immersed in Lutheran music and inspired by musical names like Bach, Handel, Jan Bender, Paul Manz and immersed in chorale tunes, liturgies, organs, choirs and chamber music. While at Northwestern University, where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, he served as musical director for two N.U. campus ministries. He was the soloist in the Alice Millar University Chapel Choir and worked on commissions for “new Lutheran liturgies” and on special services at Seabury Western Theological Seminary and at Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. He has sung as a classical singer in opera, recital, and concert venues around the United States and in Europe. He teaches singers privately, and has taught at Northwestern and done performance master classes at various universities and in summer programs in Italy. He has been a presenter for the L.A. Philharmonic “Up-Beat Live” pre-concert lecture series at Disney Hall and has written for a variety of music publications including Odyssey Classical Music Publications in the U.K. He was chosen to serve on the faculty of the National Cathedral College for a course on communicating the gospel through the arts. He has been a presenter for conferences and workshops on liturgy and music. He served for seven years as artist-in-residence/Director of Music at the Episcopal Cathedral Center in Los Angeles, and has written liturgical pieces and choral works that have been performed around the United States, in the U.k., and in Germany. One of his mentors was the late Margaret Hillis, founder of the Chicago Symphony Chorus with whom he studied choral conducting and did independent studies in score analysis and conducting. He studied organ with August Heck and Grigg Fountain. He received the Finlandia Award for fund raising efforts for Finlandia University in Michigan, and has been knighted by the government of Finland as a Knight of the Order of the Finnish Lion. “We have a rich hertiage and a living tradition with treasures that include ancient chants and things written yesterday with the ink still drying. Whether it’s Bach or the Missa Bossa Nova – it’s another level of worship and connection to the communion of saints. And all for the glory of God.”